MKT 301 Marketing Plan: Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Guidelines and Rubric This is the culmination of the Marketing Plan. Detail the advertising and promotional activities that will be used to promote the product or service. This is a set of PowerPoint slides. HINT: If this is done correctly in PowerPoint, you can simply copy them into your presentation and save yourself some extra work. Develop 4-5 IMC action items. You may use any of the mediums or techniques found in the examples provided, those found in the text, or those that you create yourself. The sky is the limit, but pay particular attention to the following restrictions: 1. The medium must be available in your geographic market. This is rarely a problem. 2. It must fit your budget. You are a start-up, so think carefully about your budget. You may spend reasonably, but no prime time TV or Super Bowl. If you want to know what something costs, search the Web. The answers will not be perfect, but will give you a guideline. 3. Each of your action items must be a different medium. 4. NONE of your action items may be a brochure, flyer, or similar printed materials. You may use such printed materials ONLY in conjunction with another action item. The printed collateral is supporting the action item, NOT the action item itself. For example, you may produce a brochure to be used in a direct mail campaign and show an example of that brochure in your project. The direct mail campaign is the action item, not the brochure (it is supporting the direct mail campaign). Remember, printed materials are NOT marketing; it is what you do with those items that make it marketing. Below is a partial list of potential promotional action items. There are many more, limited only by your imagination. TV commercial Radio commercial Magazine ads Newspaper ads Trade shows Local business association networking Direct mail Billboards Internet ads Web sites Email campaigns Outdoor advertising Events Movie theatre ads Car wraps There are TWO deliverables for each of your IMC action items: The first is the chart below which explains your action item. The use of this chart is mandatory. Click IMC Table to download the template. Project Action Item Name Action Item Description Objective Target Market Budget Metric What is the action item? Usually a sentence will be adequate. This should be a very specific and detailed description of the action item including, but not limited to, the medium, message, theme, visuals, activities and any other relevant information. The description should be sufficiently detailed that the item could be implemented based solely this information. The description of your action item is the most important part of the action plan. For example, writing that you are going to run a TV commercial is not acceptable. You must describe in detail what the commercial will be about, the theme, length, style and general content. This would apply to other mediums as well. What do you hope to accomplish with this action item? Be specific. What segment are you targeting? You need to be specific but concise. How much will this action item cost your firm? This need not be exact as this can be complicated. However, if you search the Net you will find examples of advertising costs. How will you measure the success of the action item? The second deliverable is a PowerPoint slide mock-up of your action item. For example, if you are using a magazine ad or billboard you must create a simple mock-up. Click Marketing Plan: IMC Example to view a sample of this assignment. In some cases, a mock up may not apply. For example, if you are attending a networking event, a mock-up is not applicable. In those cases, the chart above is adequate. Submit the Marketing Plan: IMC to the Dropbox no later than Sunday 11:59 PM EST/EDT of Module 6. (This Dropbox basket is linked to Turnitin.) Criteria A B C D F Punctuality On time. One-point deduction for each error in APA, grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Full points for meeting the length requirement. 10% for each day. One-point deduction for each error in APA, grammar, spelling, or punctuation. 10% for each day. One-point deduction for each error in APA, grammar, spelling, or punctuation. 10% for each day. One-point deduction for each error in APA, grammar, spelling, or punctuation. 10% for each day. One-point deduction for each error in APA, grammar, spelling, or punctuation. 10-point deduction for 75%. 30-point deduction for 50%. 40-point deduction for 25%. 50-point deduction for less than 25%. 10-point deduction for 75%. 20-point deduction for 50%. 30-point deduction for 25%. 40 points and up for missing content beyond 25% of what is required. Grammar Length Content Full points for fully meeting the content requirements. MKT 301 Marketing Plan: Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Template Project Action Item Name Action Item Description Objective Target Market Budget Metric